"It's the story about a young screenwriter who is the sport of irresponsible people nowhere in Hokkaido. It's fiction."
... so say the title sequence subtitles in ever so slightly odd English which nevertheless captures the setup of the show very succinctly.
Jun Takeyama, a disillusioned scriptwriter, decides to escape the frustrations of Tokyo by travelling to the snowy wastes of Hokkaido. A blizzard forces the cancellation of his bus service, leaving him marooned in an isolated village. After failing to find accommodation, he tries the village bar where he unexpectedly finds himself the centre of "Welcome Home, Jun!" festivities, only he's never been to the village before nor ever met the man who claims to be his father.
The next morning Takeyama wakes up in the weird treehouse-like building on the edge of town that serves as the base of the local handyman agency, having slept the night on a sofa. He's unable to remember much from the night before and has lost his both his smartphone and wallet. Thus the setup for the coming episodes is established. Jun is effectively trapped in the nameless village until he can track down his things, working in the meantime alongside his 'father' Umemoto, for Matsui, the founder of the handyman agency, in order to make ends meet.
Much of the action in each episode takes place in the village bar at the end of the working day (typically spent clearing snow), where there is always a carnival atmosphere to be seen playing out in the background while the lead characters pontificate on life, the universe and how to find Tekayama's phone and wallet.
I'm not sure whether to describe Unhandy Handymen as a sitcom or a comedy drama. There's very definitely a situation but there's also a distinct narrative progression, during which key characters reveal themselves and their back stories to the viewer and each other.
Either way, it's a fun watch which serves up a lot of laughs, both straight and absurd, insights into Japanese culture, a take on the regional peculiarities of the nation's northern island and, if all that wasn't enough, a genuine world record. Highly recommended.
